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Our next Basic Defensive Pistol class is set for October 4th

5K views 9 replies 5 participants last post by  Sam Fidler 
#1 ·
I know that many of you guys are saying that you already know how to shoot but there's much more to shooting than pulling a trigger and making a hole in a piece of paper. Do you honestly feel confident that you could stop a threat with your concealed firearm in a crowd without injuring an innocent bystander? The police are often cited for being properly trained in the use of firearms but far too many reports show them missing as much if not more than they hit during police shootings.

We teach only the best techniques that have been battle proven by our Special Forces in combat zones. This one day class will teach you the basic fundamentals and drills necessary to get the most out of your range time and build the proficiency and confidence necessary to protect yourself and your loved ones in even the worst circumstances.

http://www.thepalladiumacademy.com/basicpistol.cfm
 
#4 ·
Has anyone had any luck signing up and paying for this?
I get to the end of the first Checkout page and get a server error. I've tired a few times over the past three days.
I think Sam might be out of town and he seems to do all the work around there (like fixing the web site), I've not had any luck reaching him with a PM or a message on the Palladium web site.
Just wondering if anyone else had successfully signed up. :dunno:

Cheers,
Geoff.
 
#8 ·
Sorry this has taken me a while to write up. Sometimes work gets in the way of real life!

This Basic Defensive Pistol course was put on by our own Sam Fidler and his colleagues, Chris and Noah at Palladium (http://www.the-palladium-group.com) and was held at "The Farm", south-west of Fairfield. We had three instructors to four students so we had great personal attention!

The instructors have varying degrees of military background but there was no drill instructor-type attitude of, "you do it this way or you're an idiot". In fact, quite the opposite, all three of them had different personalities and sometimes contrasting styles. This was particularly useful in instances where the subject was something that is affected by personal preferences-getting different perspectives and methods not only demonstrated but which were clearly used regularly by the instructor.

The day started in Classroom mode with safety and operational basics, including a variation on the typical "Four rules". I couldn't recall the original source of these, though Sam did tell us. I may have the wording and the order inexact but my rough recollection of them is as follows:
1. Finger straight and off the trigger
2. Know the condition of your firearm
3. Have control of your muzzle and know where it's pointing
4. Know your target and the environment.
This was discussed in much more detail of course but the essence was a strong emphasis on common sense. There were several instances of some of these rules being reiterated through the day, when the occasion called for a gentle reminder 

We had a fairly detailed discussion on equipment which was definitely appreciated by me-being such a newbie to all of this-but I suspect most folks going to courses like this (or, indeed, frequenting internet forums) probably enjoy a good old equipment debate! Again-three different perspectives were available from the instructors-all using different pistols, holsters etc. We talked about different action types, holsters, belts, magazine pouches, carry methods etc. They had a boxful of various holster types to show to us-which were of particular interest to me since I, so far, have only one!

Off to the firing line next where we talked about stance, grip, trigger operation and reset, sight alignment and picture, sight types, breathing, after-action scans, re-holstering etc. Pretty much as you'd expect for a course of this nature. It was all good information. We worked on draw and presentation. I have a persistent difficulty getting my support hand into place in a tidy and speedy manner and it was good be able to have some supervision working on this for several repetitions.

Shooting drills started with accuracy emphasis, then moved on to increasing speed-both to the first shot and follow-ups. We discussed the OODA loop (Observe, Orient, Decide, Act) and this was reiterated several times at different opportunities during the day.

We then covered mag-changes and malfunctions. I learned a new way to cope with mag releasing, with my smallish hands-that was a good takeaway for me. We drilled all the malfunctions multiple times. Enough to start to feel some improvement without it becoming tedious for the more experienced (I'm guessing!).

We spent time working on short rapid fire-gaining a rhythm and working at a pace appropriate for each person at which the basics were followed but an improvement was being made. Towards the end of the day there was an opportunity to request any particular activity that we wanted emphasis on. I'm not sure if this was because of the high instructor to student ratio we were enjoying that day or if it's a regular part of the planned day but it that was both useful and enjoyable.

Throughout the day there was a good balance between the shooting activities and taking breaks to talk about what we'd done and were about to do. I always seem to be the one who requires further clarification so I was asking a lot of question and they were always ready and willing to stop and discuss whatever it was in more detail-often with all three instructors chiming in their respective suggestions.

Overall this was a very good course. I'm glad I attended and will likely do so again-as well as perhaps an advanced course in the future. I've attended a few other courses of a somewhat similar nature locally-and several on this board have met me at those. The pace here was different. Less material was covered-there was no one-handed work or movement-but, for me, this was a useful opportunity, allowing me to get more in-depth with some of the things I'm struggling with. I know that this is all stuff I should be practicing more on my own but it's never quite the same as having someone appropriately experienced critiquing. Personally, I like to experience different teaching techniques so I intend to keep going to as many of these types of training courses as I am able to-I haven't had any bad experiences yet.

I realize that as a relative beginner, my perspective and opinions may be skewed towards any type of instruction being good but I really believe that anyone, regardless of their experience, would both benefit and have fun at any of the courses I've attended over the past year and a half.

Just a note about the range at "The Farm". It is a little out of the way-especially if you are more northern-and there didn't seem to be any shade available in the area which we were using-which might be an issue in hotter weather. This day was perfect weather so no problems in this instance. One big plus side though was there was no other activity going on so talking between shooting activity was quiet and easy. I'm not sure if it's typical to have the place to yourself but it was an excellent benefit on this day.

Geoff.
 
#10 ·
Thanks for the endorsement Geoff. Your review is a pretty accurate reflection of my course outline. You even got the variation of the 4 rules pretty close. Although I cannot take credit for them, one of my peers modified them based on practical experiences that we have shared in common. A couple examples would be that we NEVER clean a loaded firearm so not all firearms are always loaded and sometimes, during training, I have been required to point a gun at something or someone I did not intend to destroy. So, the 4 cardinal rules were modified to the following:

1. Keep my finger straight AND off the trigger unless I'm intentionally shooting.
2. Control and know where the muzzle is pointing
3. Know the condition of the firearm
4. Be sure of my target and my environment

We did have more instructors per student than normal during this class but we will still never have more than 3 students per instructor.
 
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